The Shepherd, August 2004
THE COMING MONTH, 2
Among August saints, we have:
The holy Ointment-Bearer Salome (3rd/16th) who is numbered among the ointment-bearing Women who were the first witnesses of the Saviour’s resurrection from the dead. As we learn from the Gospels, she was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the HolyApostles James and John. She was also the daughter of Saint Joseph the Betrothed and the sister of St James the Brother of God, who, after the Day of Pentecost, became the first Bishop of Jerusalem. She was thus one of the “sisters” of the Saviour, mentioned in Matthew 13:56 and Mark 6:3, which perhaps explains her boldness with the Saviour (Matthew 20:20-21).
Our Venerable Father John of Rila (18th/31st) was born near Sophia at a place called Skrino. His parents were poor but God-fearing. After their death,St John embraced the monastic life, and withdrew to a high mountain where he lived as a hermit in a cave. Here, like St Antony of old, he endured many temptations from the demons, but he persevered in his calling and conquered them. Later he moved to Rila and lived for a period in a hollow tree, leading a life of the severest asceticism. His solitude was broken when one day he was discovered by a herdsman searching for his animals. The saint became known and many, including the Bulgarian King Peter, resorted to him for spiritual counsel and help. Others came to live near him, following the example of his life. Thus a monastery was founded which became the greatest centre of monasticism in Bulgaria. St John reposed on 18th August, A.D. 946 and to this day he remains a powerful intercessor for the Bulgarian and all Orthodox peoples. Saint John of Cronstadt, the great Russian pastor and wonderworker who died near the beginning of the twentieth century, was born on St John of Rila’s day and was named after him.
Venerable Sigfrid of Wearmouth (22nd August / 4th September): Little is known of the early life of this father, except that he was a monk at Wearmouth, a man of holy life and well versed in the HolyScriptures. When St Easterwine died, his brethren elected him to be their superior. At that time St Benedict Biscop, their Elder, was away, making a pilgrimage to Rome, but he had entrusted the houses at Wearmouth and Jarrow to St Ceolfrid, who endorsed the election. St Sigfrid lived a strictly ascetic life, but his physical health did not correspond with the vigour of his soul, and he fell seriously ill with a deterioration of the lungs. When St Benedict Biscop returned to the monastery, Sigfrid was already confined to his cell by illness. However, the health of St Benedict then became to decline, and for three years both Abbots suffered infirmity, giving the brethren examples of patient endurance in suffering. However, their illnesses grieved the two fathers in one respect, because, being confined to their beds, they missed each other’s company, and so St Sigfrid requested the brethren to carry him to the bedside of St Benedict. There they were able to embrace each other in Christian love and to strengthen each other with spiritual counsels. Two months later, in 688 A.D., St Sigfrid died, to be followed after another four months by St Benedict Biscop. 
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